What are the four benefit options? 

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Benefit payment options under the FRS are described below: 

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 Option 1 – A monthly benefit payment to you for your lifetime. Upon your death, the monthly benefit will stop and your beneficiary will receive only a refund of any contributions you paid which are in excess of the amount you received in benefits. This option does not provide a continuing benefit to a beneficiary. 

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 Option 2 – A reduced monthly benefit payment to you for your lifetime. If you die within 120 months of your retirement date, your beneficiary will receive a monthly benefit payment in the same amount as you were receiving for the balance of the 120-month period. No further benefits are then payable. 

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 Option 3 – A reduced monthly benefit payment to you for your lifetime. Upon your death, your joint annuitant will receive a continuing monthly benefit as described under the next question. No further benefits are payable after both you and your joint annuitant are deceased. 

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 Option 4 – An adjusted monthly benefit payment to you while both you and your joint annuitant are living. Upon the death of either you or your joint annuitant, the survivor will receive a continuing monthly benefit as described under the next question. No further benefits are payable after both you and your joint annuitant are deceased. 

 

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FRS Investment Plan

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In 2000, the Florida Legislature created the FRS Investment Plan, a defined contribution program that was added to the menu of choices available to FRS members beginning in 2002. The FRS Investment Plan is available as an option for current and future FRS members. Participants of the Senior Management Service Optional Annuity Program (SMSOAP) had a three-month window in 2002 when they could transfer to this plan and, since July 1, 2003, participants of the Community College Optional Retirement Program (CCORP) can elect to transfer to this plan. However, participants of the State University System Optional Retirement Program (SUSORP) or the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) cannot participate, and the FRS Investment Plan is not available for members of the Teachers' Retirement System or the State and County Officers and Employees' Retirement System. Retirees of a state-administered retirement system who are initially reemployed on or after July 1, 2010, are not eligible for renewed membership. 

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The FRS Investment Plan is administered by the State Board of Administration (SBA). For information about this plan, assistance making your choice between participating in the FRS Investment Plan or the FRS Pension Plan, and free financial planning tools available to all FRS members, you are encouraged to visit the  MyFRS website, the cooperative website of the SBA and the Division of Retirement, or call the toll-free help line at 866-446-9377. A summary plan description for the FRS Investment Plan is available on the Publications page of this website or it can be accessed via the Resources tab on the main page of the MyFRS website.